


What Friends Are For

by SilenceIsGolden15



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo 2k18 [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bad Things Happen Bingo, Branding, Broken Bones, Burns, Gen, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Missions Gone Wrong, Prompt: Go through me, Protective Lance (Voltron), Protective Shiro (Voltron), Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2018-09-17
Packaged: 2019-07-13 09:15:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16014881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilenceIsGolden15/pseuds/SilenceIsGolden15
Summary: Lance and Keith get captured while on a mission, and Lance tries to stand up to their tormentors on behalf of his injured teammate.





	What Friends Are For

Well. This wasn’t good. Nope. Not at all. On a scale of 1 to not good this was very much on the  _ not good _ end of the scale.

Granted, this mission wasn’t supposed to be easy. No one ever said it was. But even with all the risks involved, all the carefully timed moving parts and chances of being caught, Lance had never allowed himself to consider that they, you know, actually might be. After all, it was him and Keith on this mission, and as much as they bickered and couldn’t stand each other back at the Castle, even they had to begrudgingly admit that they worked well together out in the field.

And honestly, Lance had been counting on that. He’d been banking on him and Keith to work together well enough, to be stealthy enough and adaptable enough, to carry this mission through. 

But, alas, it was not to be.

Now, god only knew how many hours after they’d been cornered by the drones, Lance paced their empty cell, corner to corner. Nine steps. The repetition helped quell the dread and anxiety a bit, but with every passed loop he knew that chunk of passed time could only mean bad things.

_ Step. Step. Step. Step. Step. Step. Step. Step. Step.  _

His wrists ached from pulling at the cuffs that kept his hands together in front of him, even through his armor. That didn’t stop him from tugging at them though, in the vain hope that one of the times he tried they’d just pull apart. 

_ One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine.  _

Keith had been gone for awhile now. Longer than the second time he’d been taken, but shorter than the first. Which could mean any number of things, really, and if Lance kept obsessing over the things he couldn’t know he was going to drive himself insane really quick. 

Lance hadn’t been touched. Not a single hair on his head had been harmed, which just added insult to injury, as Keith had been hauled out three times now and came back increasingly more fucked up each time. That was a puzzle Lance couldn’t resist trying to tangle out. 

_ Step. Step. Step. Step. Step. Step. Step. Step. Step.  _

Turn.

There were three reasons, as far as Lance could figure, that they’d only bother with Keith. 1. They thought Lance didn’t know anything of use. That could immediately be crossed off the list, as the commander of this battleship was fairly high ranking and had to know the value of all of the paladins, not just the one dressed in their favorite primary color.

_ Step. Step. Step. Step. Step. Step. Step. Step. Step. _

Turn.

  1. They thought Keith would break quicker than Lance. That idea was barely a flicker in his mind it was so ridiculous. Even though he hated to, he had to admit that Keith was more physically intimidating than him, especially when he got that glare he used to stare down opponents. No, if they were going for the weak link of the two, Lance was it. 



_ Step. Step. Step. Step. Step. Step. Step. Step. Step. _

Turn.

  1. They knew Keith wouldn’t break, but they kept hurting him and giving him back so that Lance could see, in hopes of making Lance break to keep them from hurting him more. This was the most likely one of his options. Determining that didn’t make him feel any better. 



_ Step. Step. Step. Step. Step.  _

_ Clang. _

Lance froze in the middle of the room at the sound on the other side of the door. A moment later that door slid open, revealing two drones hauling in a barely conscious Keith. They tossed him forward without a care, and the door closed again as Lance was scrambling to catch him. 

The first time Keith had been taken and brought back, he’d been beaten, bruised, bloody, and  _ fucking furious _ . He’d been stripped of his chest plate and apparently used as a human punching bag, and judging by the state of his ribcage had a few broken bones to show for it. 

The second time he’d been sagging, sharp edges dulled by pain. His shoulder had been out of place and his left shin was red and swelling, probably also broken. Lance had had to work quickly to get the leg armor off before it got stuck, and then tried to reset Keith’s shoulder with his bound hands. He’d succeeded (eventually) all while Keith bit holes in his lower lip so that he wouldn’t make a sound. 

This time was puzzling. Keith was clearly exhausted and hurt, panting as though it pained him to breathe, but once Lance had gotten him settled down in his corner and tried to look him over, he couldn’t seem to find anything. 

After a few minutes of awkward examination, Keith grunted at him unhappily and tugged at the neck of his flight suit. Lance obligingly pulled it down and had to bite his tongue to keep from exclaiming. 

There on his left shoulder, in the hollow place between his collarbone and his neck, was a burn. No, it wasn’t just a burn.

It was a brand.

Bright burning scarlet, white edged, already blistering, was the symbol of the Galra empire, the same symbol that glowed purple out of practically every wall and surface of these damned ships. 

“More.” Keith croaked before Lance could get caught up in his rage, again tugging on flight suit. With a gulp and not a word, Lance reached around to the button on the back of Keith’s neck that would release the suit, and carefully pulled it down to expose his upper arms and chest. 

There were more burns underneath, but these weren't brands, thank god. They were strange little red squares, lighter and not nearly as severe as the one on his neck. It wasn’t until Lance noticed the little lightning-like lines coming off of them that he understood what they were, and blood filled his mouth when he bit down on his tongue too hard. 

They’d been shocking him. The fact that there were square burns indicating pads meant that there weren’t any druids on the ship, but that was a small consolation. He could still see Keith’s muscles jumping a bit from the aftershocks. 

His hands curled into fists where he’d braced them against the walls. He couldn’t let this continue, he couldn’t just sit here and count steps while Keith was being tortured like this. They wanted to torture him too, fine, just don’t make him sit here being useless while someone else suffered for him. He was a paladin, he was supposed to be a defender, but how could he defend the universe if he couldn’t even defend his friend? 

“Lance,” said Keith, recognizing the look on his face, “Don’t do anything stupid.” His voice was cracking and hoarse from screaming, and if this went on he’d soon lose it entirely. 

Lance didn’t have the opportunity to try and lie to him, because the cell door behind them was already sliding open again and his heart just stopped in his chest.

_ No, no it’s too soon, they’ll kill him if he has to go through it again.  _

Keith saw the drones over Lance’s shoulder that had come to collect him, and this time he didn’t bare his teeth or tense for a fight. This time he just let his head fall back against the wall with a tired sigh, and  _ no this was not going to happen again.  _

Lance wasn’t going to let it.

He got to his feet, planting them firmly before Keith and putting his shoulders back as he faced the drones. They were still more than a foot taller than him and twice as broad, but anger gave him courage. Maybe that’s where Keith gets it from.

“Stand aside,” said one of the drones in his metallic voice. 

“No.”

“Lance,” Keith’s voice, quiet and slurred. “What are you doing?”

“You are commanded to stand aside.”

“No.”

_ “Lance.”  _

He was sweating, and his breath heaved under his chest plate, but he wasn’t going to stand down. He’d propped Keith up in a corner, so the drones couldn’t just go around him. If they wanted to hurt Keith again, they’d have to move him first. 

With a click and a whir, the drone raised it’s blaster, pressing it firmly into Lance’s abdomen through the flight suit. His breath sucked in but he didn’t look away, and he didn’t back down.

“Stand aside, or die.”

“No.”

“Lance!”

The blaster whirred as it began to charge up, and Lance took a deep breath, let it out. Licked his lips and closed his eyes.

Then a jolt shook the entire ship and both he and the drone stumbled off their feet. The shot went wide and ricocheted around the room, by a stroke of luck hitting the drone who’d shot it and sending him sprawling to the floor with his wires sparking and smoking. 

Lance wasted no time. With a burst from his jetpack he threw himself bodily into the second drone and they both crashed into the opposite wall. Lance felt the metal vibrate as it crunched against the wall, and when he found his feet again and stumbled back the drone collapsed. 

He turned back to Keith, who was pushing himself back upright with his one good arm and sending Lance a death glare that could have ended Zarkon himself. 

“What the hell were you thinking?! He was going to shoot you, you could’ve died, you stupid selfless idiot--”

“No time for lectures!” Lance said as he hurried across the room to his wounded teammate. “The others finally got their shit together and showed up, so we gotta move.”

Keith shook his head, batting away Lance’s bound hands as he tried to reach for him. 

“No, I can’t go anywhere, I’ll only slow you down, you go and find the others and--”

“Not a chance in hell.” Lance snarled. 

The argument would have continued, probably for several minutes if a shape hadn’t appeared in the doorway, the shadow looming ominously over the both of them. Lance whirled on the intruder, ready to tackle them if need be, only to recognize the black and white armor and the scarred face staring out at them beneath the visor.

“Shiro! Oh thank  _ Christ.”  _ Because as much as he had argued the fact with Keith, he probably wasn’t strong enough to haul the entire Red paladin out of this place all by himself. 

“Lance! Keith!” Shiro rushed into the room, already reaching out to disengage Lance’s cuffs. Lance smiled gratefully and rubbed at the raw skin under his flight suit which would definitely be hurting him later on. “Are you guys hurt?”

“I’m not, but Keith…”

The moment he said that Shiro was gone, practically teleporting across the cell to get to Keith’s side. His expression twisted into a grimace at Keith’s condition, and when his eyes fell on the brand he turned whiter than snow. 

“I’m fine, Shiro.” Keith tried, which jolted Shiro out of his reverie right quick. “I’ll be fine--”

“We have to get you back to the Castle.” His hands hovered over Keith for a moment as he cringed. “I’m sorry, but there’s pretty much no way I can carry you without it hurting.”

“It’s ok. Just do it.”

Without further ado Shiro hauled him up into his arms, and fresh blood ran down Keith’s chin as he bit at his lip in an attempt to muffle the scream. 

“Lance, watch our six, we gotta go meet Pidge and Hunk.”

“Sir, yes, sir.”

Moving as one unit, they left the cell and the charred remains of the drones behind. 

 


End file.
